c h r o n o c r a s h

By FL#2

(Hikaru-chan64@msn.com)

AIM screen name: Sergiekins

Chapter 15: Backwards

Disclaimer: I do not own Chrono Cross, or anything related to it. Square owns it not me, so don't even think of getting me in trouble.

* = Author's note

*I'm so sleepy, got up way to early (5 am) today to go to school after my 4 day weekend, now I'm gonna right in Crash for y'all. Strange events abundant this chapter. ^_^ Also, a REALLY unexpected character will show up in this chapter. O_o If you want to join a mailing list so you know when this fanfic is updated, go here: *

http://hermod.bravepages.com/

The patter of rain awakened Serge from his painful slumber, the tiny drops pounding on his head like a shattering hammer. He felt a sudden chill crawl over his skin, and he rose upright. His eyes snapped open, and a gray beach was before him. It was raining heavily from the nearly black storm clouds that loomed over head, and he could see that the worst was only to come. Creeping over the horizon was an enormous cloud, speeding winds swirling to the beach, crashing the sea into the neutral sands and splashing Serge as he covered his face to block the water.

When the wave pulled back into the sea, he looked down at himself and found he was completely bare. He suddenly felt very open and embarrassed, and he looked around again to see if anybody was watching him. There seemed to be no living creature in the vicinity, so he stood, the sand pressing its tiny grains between his toes. He walked down the beach, towards where the storm had taken over the sky. A cold gale swiped across him again like a whip, chilling his bones and burning his blister embraced skin. He clenched his own arms as he trudged through the cold winds, even though it appeared to be a summer day.

Then, something hit him. Where was he going? And why was he here? He stopped walking; turning his head towards the storm that was careening towards him, ever closer and closer. He couldn't think of an answer for himself. His mind's eye flashed Kidd's face, the look of terror when everything went blank, and he ended up in these random places and situations. His eyes squinted tight, trying and throw off the image, but he couldn't let her go. He sat down once again, his burns and sores paining him and making his vision moist. He figured he should just stop, since he couldn't see any sign of anything else but... well, sand and ocean. He hugged his knees up to his burning chest, and he stared out for what seemed to be an eternity at the sea. The great storm cloud seemed to be coloring the waters, as if the crystal clear waves were a flowing chameleon. He didn't seem to notice the severity of the approaching storm until it was just beginning to hang thickly over his head, and it's grinning black face was illuminated by the electric energy within it. The palm trees began to sway madly, their cumbersome leaves ripping from the tops.

Serge slowly stood, staring in awe at the billowing cloud that seemed to be falling down upon him. He had no idea what to do, but say this:

"SHIT!"

He hurriedly ran down the beach again, the winds pressing against him in a whirlwind of north, east, south and west all in one blow. He stumbled as he was thrown back by a gust, rushing at him at intense speeds that burned his skin. The ground underneath him began to quake, sending him tumbling down to the sand with a loud thud. He looked up at the storm again, his eyes widening at the spectacle that was forming in the ebony cloud.

A thin-edged circle was slicing into it, and then an even thinner one within it. Symbols that Serge had never seen before rolled around the ring, and a bright white light seemed escaped through them. Then, numbers appeared inside the ring, first 12, then 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.

Serge couldn't believe what he was seeing, even though with all these strange events happening to him, you'd think he wouldn't be.

"A... clock..." he muttered, clenching a handful of sand as the ground still rumbled beneath him, trees cracking and the wind moaning in a woeful cry.

The clock in the clouds then formed 2 hands, slowly running along the face of the clock, then faster, with a greater force as they passed each number. Then, just as it had cut through the clouds, the cut-out shape of feathered wings spread from its sides, and moved gracefully into a silhouette of spread grace, and bright rays of light streamed from out from them. The hands continued to spin, now so quickly Serge could only see a blur of radiance now. He stood again, the tempests threatening to throw him down again, but he stood strong and watched the clock go about it's strange actions.

Suddenly, the hands stopped with a clean halt, both pointing to the 12. The wings closed slowly and disappeared, and reappearing in their place were a pair of cloud-carved bats wings, the light pouring from within the cloud intensifying to a greater scale. A tiny spiral of light came forth from the face of the clock, twisting and spiraling down over the horizon towards Serge. He couldn't move, his limbs were being held to the spot like the hands of a thousand people were holding him back from moving an inch. He felt his body lift up into the air, his arms stiff at his sides. Floating across the stormy waters he felt the cold winds whipping at his bare skin again and the sea foam splatter across his legs. He watched with wide eyes as the tight spiral of light approached ever closer at a high speed, aiming for his neck. He closed his eyes tightly as his chin lifted upwards, his neck beckoning like a willing sacrifice as the sharp pinnacle of the light spiral lurched forward to pierce him. His eyes slowly opened reluctantly, expecting his neck to be impaled by the spiraling light. But, it stopped as quickly as it had appeared, almost as if it had realized a fatal error in it's actions. Serge still could not move, but his eyes looked down at the twirling, but no longer moving spiral.

A booming voice of a man's echoed out from the clock in the cloud:

Chrono Trigger.

Return to thine fate and rewrite time to what it should have been.

You and the Princess shall never meet again.

Fate has no mercy for those who dare to stand against it...

Serge's ears rang as the voice trailed off, and the spiral of light remained to sit. A loud chiming came forth from the clock in the sky, the carved wings covering the face, and the voices last chime was:

Chrono Trigger.

The spiral's light then intensified, springing forward to pierce through him like a hot white knife, the rain sputtered to a stop, and the clouds parted to reveal the burning blue sky... as Serge's shattered body hit the sand.

~~~

Una had been completely at a loss for words for the past week. After the incident and her tiny hometown's grief stricken nature had not yet begun to cease, she just could not think of anything to say to anybody anymore. Everything had changed, just with the absence of one person. Leena's sulking had not been much of help either, even though she knew how she must have felt, being the only witness to what had happened one week before. Una had tried to cheer her up, but all she would do was sit on the cliff of Cape Howl and mutter... at least until she got cold or hungry. So, Una knew that the shock had not made her suicidal, anyway.

Sighing, Una lifted herself from the wood plank of the small dock of Arni, the boards creaking under her weight, stirring the sleeping fisherman from his daily nap, a soft breeze swaying his boat slightly.

"I guess she'll just have to find another boy..." looking at her feet, she thought to herself:

("But, things'll never really be the same without him. Not without Sergie...") Her eyes closed forlornly, she turned to leave the dock, she looked up and there stood Leena, hot tears streaming down her cheeks. And, supporting a limp body slung over her shoulder, stumbling a bit as she took a shaky step towards Una, she said:
"Una... he isn't dead..."

Una quickly stepped up to support her sister, staring into Leena's empty eyes that Una somehow felt that they held a spark of emotion within it's bowels.

"Leena, what are you--" her speech failing her, Una gazed upon the limp body that Leena had been lugging. The deep blue locks gave away his identity... it was Serge. Cut marks and bruises smattered across his naked body, his salted bangs sticking to his wet skin; he almost looked like he was dead.

Una didn't want to believe what she seeing; but she also wanted to believe at the same time. She decided not to question it.

"Quick, Leena! We gotta get someone who can help!"

~~~

Night fell upon the tiny port village, the sea's soft waves contrasting with the previous night's storm and the mood had changed just as much as the gossip began to spread...
Serge had not left his room for 5 days, at least he thought he had. He wasn't very sure of the time that had passed, but, as a matter of fact, he wasn't really sure of anything. He knew he was home, safe with his Mother and the people of the village. Leena had found him washed up like a dead fish, naked, on the shore of Opassa Beach. He couldn't remember anything before that, just him standing with Leena at the beach some time earlier, during a sunset. But, to him it seemed like that the talk that they had was much farther back then it should have been... as though he hadn't experienced the moment for centuries. He just didn't feel at home, relieved that his life was saved, or anything. Things were familiar, but at times he felt like he was a stranger to his own room; as though he were some foreign replacement.

Serge ran his fingers gingerly across the wound that lay seething under the bloodstained wrapping that kept the air from touching it. He winced slightly, forcing himself to sit up from the pillow. He looked at all of the other wounds that were strewn across his arms and legs; their bandages had already been removed, and had healed quickly. But, what troubled him was that the large gash that threw itself across his entire chest had not even begun to heal, and it even poured forth blood if the slightest disturbance to it was made. He didn't want to deal with any of this.

He shifted so his back faced the wall, setting his trembling feet onto the cool wood panels. The lumber creaked under his weight as he strode over to the covered windows, small fragments of light piercing through the gaps in the coverings. He ripped them apart from each other, letting the blinding light of the midday sun sting his eyes. He didn't care. He felt empty and alone, like a part of him had been ripped apart. Contempt and anger was welling up within him like never before, he felt as if there was a conflict going on within him, like some part of him was trying to break free and scream out what it knew. But, he had no idea why he felt this way.

Putting his weight down to his arms, which supported him from the wood panels under the windows, he felt a tingle in his nose and the hot sensation of tears forming in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away, thinking to himself:

(I feel like I've lost something important to me, like I don't really belong here... But, it's so absurd. It's not like I've ever even been past Termina...)

"... I should just get dressed. Stop thinking about it... Leena will probably want me to do something for her... as usual." The mere thought made him want to stay in bed even more. Leena had always been a bossy girl, and unfortunately for him, she had picked him to boss around since they were children. Sighing, he reluctantly got dressed in the normal attire that lay under his bed.

The warm morning air seeped through the windows and into his lungs as he stepped out of his room into the hall. His mother was sitting at the writing desk in the lower left corner of the narrow band of the house. Hunched over, her eyes were fixed to the writing in something that appeared to be a diary, the cracking leather and worn look of the pages told of it's age. Even as Serge took a few heavy steps with his steel-tipped boots towards her, she did not break from her reading. Serge peeped over her shoulder, and trying to keep a light air about him, he said:

"What'cha reading?"

Eyes widening, and hearts pounding against her chest, Marge jerked herself from her dazed state and whipped her head over to look at Serge.

"Serge! Oh my gods, you scared me!" Her petrified visage quickly calmed as Serge just smiled back at her. Turning in her chair, she smirked up at Serge and wagged a finger.

"I'll have to give you a spanking if you don't behave young man!"

Serge's eyes went wide and blank, staring down at his mother.

"That's not funny Mom, I might get the exact same thing from Leena today if she suddenly had something for me to do for her at dawn today..." his eyes shot towards the window across the writing desk. The sunlight streamed in as a gust of wind blew the curtains, and Marge smiled.

She chuckled a bit, and stood, her dress falling back into position. Her left hand gripped the chair she had been sitting on as she stared down at Serge lovingly.

"I don't think you have to worry about it until you two are married, anyway. She's out with her mother gathering plants for a stew out by Divine Dragon Falls... I can't believe that girl's determination, just the right ingredients for a good wife." Her eyes shot down to the old leather diary, her eyes filling with a warm haze.

Serge did not share in her joyful thoughts, whatever if they were about him marrying Leena or something about the diary. He slowly moved his glance to the fading black scribble on its open pages. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a signature at the bottom of the right page.

Wazuki...

Serge tore his gaze away from it, and he pierced through his mother's eyes with a cold determination.

"Mom... did it ever cross your mind that I might not want to marry Leena?"

Marge stared back into his eyes, hers resembling a memory that sent a pang into Serge's heart...

That's the way Dad would look at me when I did something wrong... it was like he was never satisfied with me.

Sighing deeply, she turned from him back to the writing desk. With a smooth motion, she closed the diary and set it into Serge's gloved hands, curling his fingers around it's weathered binding. She lifted her gaze from his hands to his eyes.

"This was your father's; I want you to read it. It would do you good, because I'm not the one who is going to make your decisions. Do what you think is best." Closing her eyes again, she took in a long breath through her nostrils. She stood straight and smiled at him, her eyes still closed.

"The fisherman at the docks wanted you to go fishing with you today, says he wanted to teach you a thing or two..."

Her voice was soft and Serge could tell that she was keeping herself from crying again. Her averted his gaze and stuck the diary into the pocket of his shorts.

"Right, Mom... I'll go with him; maybe I'll bring back some fish for dinner tonight..."

Marge didn't utter a word, and the air seemed to turn cold around him. She turned from him, and a single tear fell from her face to catch the sunlight as it fell to the wooden floor.

Serge made his way out of the house, slowly stepping down onto the newly dewed grass. Lifting his head towards the sky, he stared at the billowing white clouds overhead, and longed for something he couldn't even understand. Something that he had lost, or maybe... forgotten.

***

End of Chapter 15

***

w00t. I hope everyone could understand what happened. ^_^;